After receiving over 100,000 views in 24 hours, a leaked trailer for Syfy’s new space drama Battlestar Galactica: Blood Chrome has eager BSG fans chomping at the bit for the series to air. Unfortunately, after much deliberation, Syfy has decided not to air the Battlestar Galactica prequel as a regular series – but there is still hope for a TV movie and a digital series.

In January, Syfy’s President of Original Programming Mark Stern stated that he and the network were “trying to figure out the economics right now” and that a solution would be figured out soon. Now it seems that the economics were not worked out in the way Stern had intended, as the network has decided to pass on the project as a regular series, but is leaving it open for the possibility of a digital airing.

In a statement made this week, Stern gave fans some insight into the decision:

“Though the vision for Battlestar Galactica: Blood Chrome has evolved over the course of the past year, our enthusiasm for this ambitious project has not waned.” Stern goes on to say, “We are actively pursuing it as was originally intended: a groundbreaking digital series that will launch to audiences beyond the scope of a television screen. The 90-minute pilot movie will air on Syfy in its entirety at a future date.”

Originally intended as a web series, the Battlestar Galactica off-shoot was later greenlighted for a two-hour TV pilot back in October 2010, but was subsequently pushed back due to intensive post-production and special effects issues. The pilot stars English actor Luke Pasqualino ( UK Skins) as a young William “Husker” Adama, a fresh academy graduate entering the tenth year of the First Cylon War on the newest Battlestar in the Colonial fleet, The Galactica.

As far as the leaked trailer goes, NBCUniversal quickly ordered it removed from YouTube and other sources, saying it was not an official trailer – but not before it went viral. Even with swift action, the trailer can still be found if you know where to look. Outside of a digital series, Universal Cable Production, which produces Battlestar Galactica: Blood Chrome, has not completely ruled out shopping the project to other television networks.

Fans of the successful 2004 re-imaging of Battlestar Galactica, and its not-so successful spin-off Caprica, were really excited at the prospect of Galactica and her crew making a triumphant return to television. The recent news concerning Blood Chrome is bittersweet, as there is still a slim chance the Cylon space drama might go on in the form of a web series.

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More info on the future of Battlestar Galactica: Blood Chrome as it is released